S
onia Johal is sitting in Curaçao, in the Caribbean, with her chihuahua Buoy. She will spend her day walking him along the beach, catching up on emails, carrying out maintenance on her boat and exploring the island where she has been anchored these past few weeks.
But life has not always been like this.
In 2009 Johal, now 59, had completed the New York marathon and started a teacher training course when routine blood tests revealed that she had a pituitary tumour.
Complications during the surgery left her temporarily blind, and with cluster headaches and extreme fatigue. When the tumour returned in 2013, she needed a second surgery.
